Former Celtic Boss “Rae Blasts Rangers: ‘This Nonsense Has to Stop'” it’s also happen during my tenure

Former Rangers coach Alex Rae has revealed how unbearable it was for him and Philippe Clement to try and catch Celtic during the Belgian’s time in charge at Ibrox, with Celtic winning all but one domestic honour and securing the league title by eight points last season.

This season, Celtic have already won the league and cup double, with Clement sacked in February while Rangers trailed by 13 points and had lost the Premier Sports Cup final in December on penalties.

Rae was part of a Rangers coaching staff who struggled to match Celtic’s consistency and ultimately fell short in every domestic competition.

Rae, who wasn’t retained by interim boss and former Rangers teammate Barry Ferguson following Clement’s departure, has now returned to punditry after yet another unsuccessful coaching stint.

He said: (Clyde 1 Superscoreboard), “Yeah, I think, yeah, there’s no doubt about it [talking about how he realised early how hard it was going to be to catch Celtic].

“But Celtic have been like that for several years. Last year we managed to claw back and make it a title race, but then it fizzled out towards the end, and it was probably a bit closer than people would envisaged.

This season we didn’t quite get off to the start. And the one thing that becomes very apparent, is that when your opposition are steamrolling, it becomes [difficult]. I met Ally McCoist, I don’t know, maybe about six weeks, eight weeks.

“It was a Tottenham game, and I was like, my God, how many tin helmets do you need here? You know, because the pressure is unbearable at times because you’re just constantly getting scrutiny, and it’s very difficult if you’re not getting the results.

“So, and I would imagine it would be the same if the roles were reversed if it was with Celtic.”

Rae certainly found his coaching spell at Rangers under Clement a nightmare. The Belgian was initially heralded as a top manager, but it quickly became clear after celebrating a 3-3 draw at Ibrox that Clement wasn’t the solution. Tactically, Brendan Rodgers had the better of him when it mattered most.

It’s yet another example of Rae, a former player, showing that ex-players don’t always make good coaches. While they may understand the game from a player’s perspective, the demands of management often require a different skill set entirely.

Rae has now returned to punditry duties, so supporters can expect his impartial views on Scottish football, along with his failed tactical insights from his time at Rangers, which included a massive 3-3 draw against Celtic last year at Ibrox.